Dollar Tree is hiring more than 25,000 workers for the holiday season
While many companies have been announcing layoffs recently, discount retailer Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) is gearing up for the holidays by hiring more than 25,000 seasonal workers. With online shopping at an all-time high due to the pandemic, many of the new jobs will be at the company's distribution centers. In response to the news, DLTR was last up 2.4% to trade at $92.10.
Dollar tree stock recovered at an impressive rate following its dip to a six-year low of $60.20 on March 18. In fact, by late August the equity had notched an annual high of $104.24; and though it's pulled back since then to trade between $84 and $94, the equity still boasts a 19.2% lead over the last six months. Meanwhile, DLTR's 180-day moving average has once again emerged as a trendline of support that has contained the recent pullback.
Meanwhile, analysts are split on their stance concerning DLTR. Of the 16 in coverage, eight sport a "strong buy" rating, while the other eight call it a tepid "hold." Nevertheless, the 12-month consensus price target of $108.17 is an 18.6% premium to current levels.
The options pits have been quite bearish, per the security's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 4.60 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This ratio sits in the elevated 73rd percentile of its annual range, suggesting a bigger-than-usual appetite for puts of late.
Options are certainly an intriguing route. The stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 29% is in the 11thpercentile of its annual range, suggesting short-term options are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations. In other words, Dollar Tree's near-term options are attractively priced at the moment.